This week’s Farm News:

We are swimming in Zucchini, Summer Squash, Pickling Cucumbers, and Beans! It’s time to preserve this harvest! Pickling, fermentation and freezing are all well underway here at the farm,  and we’re stocking the larder for winter. Make sure you preserve some of your share this week for the upcoming cold months, it’s another great way to enjoy your FarmShare & remember these awesome summer months.

What’s in this week’s box?

Veggies:

Pickling Cucumbers

String Beans

Head Lettuce

Zucchini & Summer Squash

Fruit:

Blueberries

Full shares:

Broccoli

Half Shares:

Cabbage

Storage, handling and general cooking tips…

Cucumbers

Storage-Most supermarket cucumbers are usually waxed to keep them from drying out during the trip from wherever they were grown.  Our cucumbers will dehydrate faster than a waxy cucumber so be sure to get them into the refrigerator right away.  If you store unwashed cucumbers in a sealed plastic bag in the vegetable crisper bin, they’ll hold for at least a week.  Cucumbers store best at around 45 degrees F, but refrigerators are usually set cooler than this.  Keep cucumbers tucked far away from tomatoes, apples, and citrus fruits, as these give off ethylene gas that accelerates cucumber deterioration.

Handling- You can do a lot of fancy things to the skin of a cucumber, and when it is young, fresh, and unwaxed, it really only needs to be thoroughly washed.  However, if the skin seems touch or bitter you can remove it; if they seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out.  Scoring the skin of a cucumber with a fork or citrus zester gives it attractive stripes and may help release any bitterness.  Slice, dice, or cut a cucumber into chunks according to specifications given in your recipe.

String Beans

This tasty bean is among one of the only ones that can be enjoyed fresh, plus it packs a punch full of benefits! Green beans are an excellent source of folate, fiber, and  potassium. Surprisingly, green beans are also full of cancer fighting carotenoids. Toss it in with your salad, stir fry with some oil, or steam to go along with your chicken and rice.

Storage and Handling

Store unwashed fresh beans pods in a plastic bag kept in the refrigerator crisper. Whole beans stored this way should keep for about seven days. Wash in cold water right before using. Trim and cut the ends off right before using.

Cook tips

Use raw beans for dipping, (we love it with hummus) or in with your salad. Build a composed Salad Nicoise and combine with boiled potatoes and tuna. Marinate in your favorite dressing and saute with garlic to make a tasty side for dinner.

Zucchini & Summer Squash

 Storage– Un-waxed farm-fresh zucchini and summer squash respire through their skins, so they need to be refrigerated as soon as possible. Store them unwashed in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable bin, or refrigerate them in a sealed plastic container that you’ve lined with a kitchen towel. In the refrigerator they keep for about a week and a half.

 Handling– Rinse under cool running water to remove any dirt or prickles; then slice off the stem and blossom ends. According to the specifications of your recipe, slice the vegetable into rounds, quarters, or chunks.

Handle zucchini with care as they are easily damaged.

Cook tips

Zucchini is wonderful steamed, sautéed, grilled or stuffed and baked. You can also cut uncooked zucchini into strips and serve it as an appetizer, or dice and grate it into a salad. Overcooked zucchini will end up as mush. To salvage it, make soup!

Lettuce, Salad Greens and Mesclun:

Storage- Store unwashed lettuce, greens or mesclun in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce or greens that you have already washed and dried, roll the leaves loosely in a kitchen towel, put the towel in a plastic bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Wet greens will wilt quickly, so make sure they are good and dry before refrigerating them. If you have a salad spinner, wash and spin the greens before refrigerating them. Eat mesclun mix within three or four days, and use lettuce within a week.

Handling- Salad greens are fragile, so make sure to be gentle with them.  For lettuce, slice the head at the base to allow the leaves to separate from each other.  Tear your leaves into smaller more manageable pieces for use.  Lettuce, greens and mesclun mix can be washed by swishing them around in a basin of cold water.  If you see a lot of dirt settling in the water, wash them again, until they’re nice and clean.  The best way to dry your greens is in a salad spinner if you’ve got one, or if not, you can always pat them dry with a towel.

Cook Tips- Salad greens taste great lightly braised or stir-fried, but keep an eye on them, as they cook very quickly.

Try adding salad greens into sandwiches, tacos, burritos, omelets, or whatever else you can think of!

Salad greens are a great addition to quiches, lasagna, and other baked dishes, wanna green up your pizza? It’s great on top, right after you pull it out of the oven.

Our mesclun mix isn’t that spicy: a combination of peppery arugula, mustards, mizuna and some tat soy. These greens are great as a pizza topping, on top of an egg and toast, or simply added to your daily salad.

Recipes of the Week!

Take a fancy foodie picture with your Applecrest fruit and veggies? Let us know and post it on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter with #applecrest !

• Dill Pickles
• Cucumber Feta Toasts
• Squash Puppies
• Grilled Summer Squash Tacos
• Zucchini & Rice Gratin
• Summer Squash Angel Hair
• Zucchini Ricotta Galette
• Mama Ghannouj (Zucchini Ghannouj)
• Greek Green Bean Salad
• Green Bean Bacon Bundles
• Pickled Green Beans
• Peanut, Carrot, Cabbage Slaw
• Curried Broccoli Couscous
• Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
• Zucchini Nut Bread Cookie Sandwiches

How to Make Dill Pickles

From The Kitchn

What You Need

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Pickling cucumbers
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons dill seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons pickling saltor kosher salt

Equipment
Chefs knife
Cutting board
2 wide-mouth pint jars with lids
Large pot, if canning

Instructions

1. Prepare the jars: If you are planning to can your pickles for long-term storage, bring a large pot of water to a boil and sterilize the jars and their lids. If you are planning to make refrigerator pickles, simply washing the jars and lids is fine.
2. Prepare the cucumbers: Wash and dry the cucumbers. Trim away the blossom end of the cucumber, which contains enzymesthat can lead to limp pickles. Leave the pickles whole, cut them into spears, or slice them into coins, as preferred.
3. Add the spices to the jars: Divide the garlic, dill seed, and red pepper flakes (if using) between the pint jars: 2 smashed cloves, 1 teaspoon dill seed, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes per jar.
4. Pack the pickles into the jars: Pack the pickles into the jars. Trim the ends if they stand more than 1/2 inch below the top of the jar. Pack them in as tightly as you can without smashing the cucumbers.
5. Bring the pickling brine to a boil: Combine the vinegar, water, and salt in a small sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil. Pour the brine over the pickles, filling each jar to within 1/2-inch of the top. You may not use all the brine.
6. Remove air bubbles: Gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more pickling brine if necessary.
7. Tighten the lids: Place the lids over the jars and screw on the rings until tight.
8. Optional — Process the pickles for longer storage: For longer storage, place the jars in a boiling pot of water. When the water comes back to a boil, set the timer for 5 minutes and remove the jars immediately. Make sure the lids pop down; if they do not, refrigerate those pickles and eat them first.
9. Cool and refrigerate: Let the jars cool to room temperature. If you processed the jars, they can be stored on the shelf. If unprocessed, store the pickles in the fridge. The pickles will improve with flavor as they age — try to wait at least 48 hours before cracking them open.

   Canned pickles will keep for at least a year on the shelf and for several weeks in the refrigerator once opened; refrigerator pickles will keep for several weeks.

Recipe Notes

• Dilly Beans and Other Pickles: Many other summer vegetables can be pickled following this method — green beans (a.k.a. dilly beans), okra, garlic scapes, etc. Experiment to find your favorites!
• Crisp Texture: If your pickles are softer than you’d like, read this post on 5 Ways to Give Your Pickles Better Texture.
• Other Flavors: Dill isn’t all you can make! Swap out the dill seed for tumeric, black peppercorns, mustard seeds, or any other spices that sound good to you.
• Making a Larger Batch: Keep the ratio of vinegar, water, and salt the same and make enough to top off all your jars of pickles.

Cucumber Feta Toasts

From Martha Stewart

• 1/2 baguette 
• 2 teaspoons plus 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 
• 3 ounces feta 
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 
• Coarse salt and ground pepper 
• 1 small English cucumber, thinly sliced crosswise

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 450 degrees. Split baguette lengthwise and lightly brush cut sides with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Bake until golden around edges, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mash together feta, 4 teaspoons oil, and lemon juice with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Spread feta mixture evenly over toasted baguette and top with cucumber. Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a drizzle of oil. Cut into pieces to serve.

Squash Puppies

From Spicy Southern Kitchen

Jill’s Pickled Summer Squash

Grilled Summer Squash Tacos

From Mountain Mama Cooks

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb summer squash (zucchini and yellow squash mix)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• small pinch each of chili powder, cajun seasoning, cayenne, and salt
• 2 avocados
• juice of 1 lime
• salt
• 8 corn tortillas
• red onion
• cojita cheese
• cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut the squash in half length wise and then into 1/2-inch thick pieces.
2. Toss the squash with olive oil and spices to taste.
3. Heat the grill to medium-high and watching carefully, sear squash on all sides just until heated through and crispy on the outside. Remove from grill and place on platter.
4. In a small bowl, mash avocados with lime juice and a pinch of salt.
5. Optional- but I like to throw the tortillas on the grill for just a minute to heat through!
6. To serve tacos, spread some smashed avocado on each tortilla and then top with 3-4 pieces of summer squash.
7. Optional: top each taco with crumbled cojita cheese (or feta), fresh cilantro and thinly sliced red onion.

Zucchini & Rice Gratin

From Big Girls Small Kitchen

Summer Squash Angel Hair

Zucchini and Ricotta Galette
From Smitten Kitchen

I might be tempted to double the cheese filling next time I make this; it puffed beautifully in the oven but then deflated a bit. Then again, at their current levels, the zucchini and cheese balance each other nicely. There’s something to be said for not fixing what ain’t broken, right?

Since I oohed and aahed over this crust, for those that like to dissect recipes as I do, I thought I’d note that funnily enough, it’s an almost-match for my favorite pie dough, in technique as well, save two ingredients which apparently make all of the difference: 1/4 cup sour cream and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. What this makes is an even flakier, softer pastry, the kind that leaves croissant crumbs everywhere. I know the next obvious question is “so, can I use this for a pie dough?” but I don’t advise it. It is too soft. It will get soaked and deflated under all of that heavy baked fruit. It is at its best when it is free form, just like this.

Serves 6

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chill again
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
1 large or 2 small zucchinis, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (about 1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon slivered basil leaves

Glaze:
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Make dough: Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle bits of butter over dough and using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest pieces of butter the size of tiny peas. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add this to the butter-flour mixture. With your fingertips or a wooden spoon, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Make filling: Spread the zucchini out over several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain for 30 minutes; gently blot the tops of the zucchini dry with paper towels before using. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and the garlic together; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, and 1 teaspoon of the garlicky olive oil together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare galette: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet (though if you line it with parchment paper, it will be easier to transfer it to a plate later). Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the bottom of the galette dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Shingle the zucchini attractively on top of the ricotta in concentric circles, starting at the outside edge. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of the garlic and olive oil mixture evenly over the zucchini. Fold the border over the filling, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open. Brush crust with egg yolk glaze.

Bake the galette until the cheese is puffed, the zucchini is slightly wilted and the galette is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with basil, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Mama Ghannouj (Zucchini Ghannouj)

From Oh My Veggies

ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs. zucchini, grilled whole until softened and lightly charred on the outside
• 1/4 c. tahini
• Juice from 1 large lemon
• 1-2 garlic cloves (2 if you want your mama ghannouj to be extra garlicky)
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling on top

instructions

1. Cut the top and the bottom off of each zucchini and allow them to cool. Once cooled, cut them into large chunks.
2. Combine zucchini, tahini, lemon juice, garlic cloves, and olive oil in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle additional olive oil over the top, if desired. (I also like sprinkling mine with a little smoked paprika. It’s not traditional, but it’s delicious!) Serve with fresh veggies, pita bread or chips, or crackers.

notes

Green Bean Bacon Bundles

From How Sweet It Is

makes about 10-12 bundles

1 pound fresh green beans

10-12 slices of thick-cut bacon

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Wash and thoroughly dry green beans, then season with salt and pepper. Bundle together about 5-8 green beans – this will depend on your size of beans and the amount of beans you get for one pound. Bundle together as many as you’d like! Using a slice of bacon, wrap it around the center of the beans to hold it together. Lay the bundle bacon seam side down in the baking dish to hold it together. Repeat with remaining beans.

Heat a small saucepan over low heat. Add butter, brown sugar and garlic and whisk until melted and combined. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over top of each green bean bundle. Cover the bundles with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 minutes more, just until bacon gets crispy.

Pickled Green Beans:

From The Cilantropist

From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Coarse salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely grated zucchini
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions

As a reminder, part of the fun of being a member of a CSA is collaborating with your community, so always feel free to post cooking suggestions or feedback on recipes that we post, or favorite recipes of your own that you’d like to share.